A European Informational Website
learn more
Offal is the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of organs, but includes most internal organs other than muscles or bones. Depending on the cultural context, offal may be considered as waste material that is thrown away, or as delicacies that command a high price. Offal not used directly for human or animal food is often processed in a rendering plant, producing material that is used for animal feed, fertilizer or fuel.
In some parts of Europe, brain, chitterlings or andouilles (pig's large intestine), feet or trotters, gizzard (bird's crop), heart, head (of pigs or calves), kidney, liver, "lights" (lung), sweetbreads (thymus or pancreas or both), tongue, snout (nose) and tripe (stomach) from various mammals are common menu items.
The traditional Scottish haggis consists of sheep stomach stuffed with a boiled mix of liver, heart, lungs, rolled oats and other ingredients. In the UK Midlands faggots are made from ground or minced pig offal (mainly liver and cheek), bread, herbs and onion wrapped in pig's caul. Steak and kidney pie (typically featuring veal or beef kidneys) is widely known and enjoyed in Britain. Brawn is an English term for "head cheese" or the collection of meat and tissue found on an animal's skull (typically a pig) that is chilled and set in gelatin.
Iceland has its own version of both haggis and brawn. The Icelandic brawn is always made from sheep and it is eaten either hot or cold off the bone or set in gelatin.
In Greece (and similarly in Turkey), splinantero consists of liver, spleen and small intestine, roasted over an open fire. A festive variety is kokoretsi (from Turkish kokoreç): pieces of lamb offal (liver, heart, lungs, spleen, kidney and fat) are pierced on a spit and covered by washed small intestine wound around in a tube-like fashion. The kokoretsi is then roasted over coal fire. It is a traditional dish for Easter. Another traditional Easter food is mageiritsa: a soup made with lamb or kid's offal and lettuce in a white sauce. Tzigerosarmas (from Turkish ciğer sarması, meaning "liver wrap") and gardoympa are two varieties of splinantero and kokoretsi made in different sizes and with extra spices to improve the taste.
In Italy consumption of entrails and internal organs is quite widespread, among the most popular preparations are fried or stewed brain, boiled intestines (Trippa), often served with tomato sauce, lampredotto (the fourth stomach of the cow), boiled in broth and seasoned with parsley sauce and chili, liver (stir-fried with onions, roasted), kidneys, heart and coronaries (coratella or animelle), head, eyes, testicles of pig, several preparations are based on chicken entrails. In Sicily, many enjoy a type of sandwich called "pani ca meusa", or bread with spleen and caciocavallo cheese. In Brooklyn, NY where it is also commonly eaten, it goes by the name of Vastedda.
In the French city of Marseilles pig's feet and a package of pig tripe are a traditional food under the name "pieds et paquets".
In some Latin American countries, tripe is used to make menudo; in others, like Peru, cow heart is used for anticuchos - a sort of brochettes.
In Brazil, churrasco often includes chicken hearts, roasted in a big skewer. The typical feijoada often contains pork trimmings (ears, feet and tail). Gizzard stews, fried beef liver and beef stomach stews are also popular dishes.
In China, many organs and animal-parts are used for food or traditional Chinese medicine.
In Singapore, pig's organ soup is a common feature of hawker centres.
In Indonesia, goat's organs are very popular for soups. Almost all of the parts are eaten, including intestines, brain, and eyes.
In Japan chicken offal is often skewered and grilled over charcoal as yakitori, to be served alongside drinks in an izakaya (Japanese food-pub). Offal originating from cattle is also an ingredient in certain dishes (see yakiniku).
In the Philippines, people eat practically every part of the pig, including snout, intestines, ears, and innards. Dinuguan is a particular type of blood sausage made using pig intestines.
In Pakistan, the goat's brain (maghaz), feet (paey), head (siri), stomach (ojhari or but), tongue (zabaan), liver (kalayji), kidney (gurda), udder (kheeri) and testicles (kapooray) as well as chickens' heart and liver are enjoyed. One popular dish, Khata-Khat, is a combination of brains, liver, kidneys and other organs.
In the state of Karnataka in southern India, a strong-smelling dish called rakhti, made of heavily spiced porcine offal and cartilaginous tissue, is considered a homely indulgence by the local Christian community (observant Hindus and Muslims avoid pork products).
In Bangladesh, a goat's brain (magoze), feet (paya), head (matha), stomach skin (bhuri), tongue (zihba), liver (kalija), kidney and testicles are delicacies. Chickens' heart and liver are also enjoyed.
In Lebanon, lamb brain is used in nikhaat dishes and sometimes as a sandwich filling. A tradition practiced less often today would be to eat fish eyes either raw, boiled, or fried.
In Iran, sheep liver, heart and kidneys are used as certain types of kebab and have a high popularity among people, as well as sheep intestines and stomach, though the latter is boiled. Sheep brains and tongue, alongside shins, as a type of breakfast, are boiled in water and eaten with traditional bread.
In the United States, offal is infrequently used for human consumption. Sometimes the euphemism "variety meats" is used. Offal is somewhat more popular in the American South, where some recipes include chitterlings, chicken gizzards and livers, and hog maw. Scrapple, made from pork offal, is somewhat common in the Northeast US. Fried-brain sandwiches are a speciality of St. Louis, Missouri. Traditional recipes for turkey gravy typically include the bird's giblets.
In Australia offal is most commonly consumed in meat pies, or in ethnic dishes. Food regulations since 2003 have lifted the prohibition of offal in the meat standard, which had previously specifically banned things such as snout, genital organs, lips, lungs and scalp. These may now be added to foods, but must be named specifically in the ingredients list (not just as "offal").[1] The food standard also allows meat pies to contain snouts, ears, tongue roots, tendons and blood vessels without specific labelling.
Certain organs of certain animals are unsafe to consume:
Offal is usually very high in purines. People suffering from gout should avoid offal in their diet.
The practice of feeding raw offal to work dogs on farms and ranches is known to spread echinococcosis.